beautiful days newbie

[jenjensponge]

Hi all!

Just ordered my tickets and have that lovely glow inside knowing we have a festival booked!

Just wondered if any beautiful veterans have any tips or advice? Such as what is the deal with Thursday night, what's security like, where not to camp blah blah blah!

Thanks guys and see you in August! !!!!

Jen x

[dondo]

We went only once in 2014 so wouldn't say was a veteran.  We went as a family so were camped in family camping- Redwoods camping on the map below (it's an old map but wouldn't have thought it had changed much).  Arena camping is more of the lively/party campsite and where the younger festival goers tend to camp.

Thursday we just had a wander around a found our bearings etc.

Overall we enjoyed the festival- in particular the kids area and some of the food stalls and saw some great bands.  Few things to note though:

• It took us ages to get on site from pulling off the main road we were over 2 hours in a queue.  This may have been partly due to it being a muddy year.
• We struck a bit unlucky with our camping neighbours as they weren't very sociable at all and had "grabbed" a lot of land for people coming later and seemed peeved when we asked them to move a windbreak a few inches so we could get our tent in (as space was at a premium)
• Security was visible but not too in your face as such but perimeter security in my opinion was a bit lacking and there was a lot of tent thefts on the Thursday night.  Unfortunately there are not lock ups on site like there is at Glastonbury etc.  There is a cash machine though if you didn't want to carry a load of cash

Finally there is a good Facebook group called Beautiful Days Chat worth looking at

[sin123]

thanks for the map.

[Markmod]

Hi - been going for the last 7 years, arriving Thursday is good and redwoods field probably the best for camping. Security is pretty laid back and atmosphere very friendly. Bars are fab. Come and say hello in the hope tavern, I'll be the old bloke behind the bar looking like he's having fun!

[ShuMart]

Having been several times my top tip is do NOT follow the official signs to get to the festival.

This sounds odd i know but having made this mistake once I will never make it again. The official signs take you through villages close to the site presumably to stop people queuing down the A30 (which i understand)

Unfortunately at the junction near site where the A30 traffic joins the traffic following the signs the A30 traffic has priority

Set your satnav to go to  EX14 3AZ Higher Gosford farm.

I usually go down Thursday aiming to get there at 14:00 ( when the gates open) the year i followed the signs added 2hrs worth of queues to my journey compared to other years. Coming off the A30 that way you pretty much just drive straight in.

The stalls / food places / Bars are all open Thursday. If you have a large tent and want one of the better / closer camping pitches in the Redwioods camping area I would get there Thursday afternoon. That said the site is not massive so its not much further to walk if you end up on the outskirts.

 

[the beadle]

On 19/04/2017 at 1:52 PM, Markmod said:

Hi - been going for the last 7 years, arriving Thursday is good and redwoods field probably the best for camping. Security is pretty laid back and atmosphere very friendly. Bars are fab. Come and say hello in the hope tavern, I'll be the old bloke behind the bar looking like he's having fun!

and I'll be the old bloke THIS side of the bar looking like he's having fun!

[cornish hick]

16 hours ago, the beadle said:

and I'll be the old bloke THIS side of the bar looking like he's having fun!

I'll be another old bloke THIS side of the bar.

First-timer also and ticket has arrived

Any idea when the line-up times come out?

[Michaels denim shorts]

Edit: read that wrong, the times will be released very soon 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Michaels denim shorts

[Dave The Owl]

Anyone able to give a bit of advice about how crowded the camping fields get - old hand from Glastonbury and numerous other festivals, but first time at Beautiful Days this year. Due to work, we can't arrive until Friday morning. Only pitching one tent, but normally bring our larger one as it is standing height and has a porch so the comfort in much greater than our little 2 man backpacker but wonder whether space will be at a premium. Not fussed around location - distance from the car isn't an issue and not fussed about being close in (we camp in Baileys at Glastonbury!) but don't want to get there and find we can't find a space!!

Cheers

[Michaels denim shorts]

9 hours ago, Dave The Owl said:

Anyone able to give a bit of advice about how crowded the camping fields get - old hand from Glastonbury and numerous other festivals, but first time at Beautiful Days this year. Due to work, we can't arrive until Friday morning. Only pitching one tent, but normally bring our larger one as it is standing height and has a porch so the comfort in much greater than our little 2 man backpacker but wonder whether space will be at a premium. Not fussed around location - distance from the car isn't an issue and not fussed about being close in (we camp in Baileys at Glastonbury!) but don't want to get there and find we can't find a space!!

Cheers

You'll have no issues at all getting 1 or 2 tents in pretty much anywhere on Friday. It doesn't get too rammed 

[ShuMart]

I've turned up with a 5 man tunnel tent Friday morning before and still found flat pitches ok.

[Mrsvark]

We are newbies too and would love to know which camping field are best to try pitch in. Looking forward to meeting peeps if you want to get a drink 😄

[spg]

10 hours ago, Mrsvark said:

We are newbies too and would love to know which camping field are best to try pitch in. Looking forward to meeting peeps if you want to get a drink 😄

They are all easy, but arena is nearer the later night action, whereas the other camping is much closer to the car park

[gooner1990]

51 minutes ago, spg said:

They are all easy, but arena is nearer the later night action, whereas the other camping is much closer to the car park

Is the arena camping much more lively/full than the other ones?

[Pinhead]

Smaller camping area but more lively yeah cos its near all the bars, stalls and arena. Bit of a slope to camp on mind.

[spg]

1 hour ago, Pinhead said:

Smaller camping area but more lively yeah cos its near all the bars, stalls and arena. Bit of a slope to camp on mind.

Exactly this, but there is some flat areas right at the top of arena camping if you fancy the slog. 

All depends on what you want from the weekend 

[justanotheronethen]

Recent years I've gone for quiet / family camping even though I'm on my own as I am old and need my sleep! I can sleep through kids making noise early in the day easier than the hubbub in the arena camping, although I miss being near all the bars & stages and the Tiny Tea Tent (love that place).

In the early days I used to camp near the Exodus > Leviticus tent as the bass coming through the ground all hours was a gorgeous way to drift off to sleep 😁